Everything Comes from Somewhere
by GirloftheArts
Summary: Jareth is introduced to someone in the Labyrinth the day Sarah makes her wish. Why does this woman keep popping up? J/S Everything property of Jim Henson, except OC's.
1. Chapter 1  The Labyrinth's Mommy

The sky in the labyrinth was a gorgeous blue that day; roses bloomed on all of the hedges and trailed over the walls.

_Labyrinth is dressed to impress _A woman thought idly as she walked through the maze, knowing exactly where she was going.

The hedges suddenly opened to form a small clearing; gaily decorated with flowers of all colors, a burbling fountain and a bench.

The woman stopped to admire the view with something akin to pride and realized that she was not alone.

Sitting on the bench was a rather eccentric looking man, with long and spiky light blonde hair, mismatched blue eyes, a black poet's shirt and (of all things!) tights!

And, at the moment, those odd blue eyes were turned towards her.

The woman acknowledged him with a courteous nod and continued walking towards the other side of the clearing.

"What are you doing in my Labyrinth, woman?" The man asked, imperiously.

She merely glanced at him wondering at the audacity of this new king (_although he had been ruling for several hundred years come to think of it.) _and continued walking, her measured step never faltering.

The king of the Goblins watched in surprise as the strange woman ignored him.

She was regal and beautiful, with white-blonde hair piled on top of her head and a fair complexion. Her dark gown was elegant and well made, modestly covering her well-rounded hips and ample breasts. When she glanced at him, her eyes seemed the exact shade as a night sky without stars, and just as ancient and fathomless.

Annoyed, the King reappeared in front of the woman, "My Lady, perhaps you are lost in _my _labyrinth?" A ghost of a scowl flitted across the woman features and Jareth, king of the Goblins, repressed a shiver as she fixed her eyes upon his.

"I am not lost, your _Majesty_," She said in a low, silky voice, "I am merely visiting my kin here in the underground."

Jareth decided the woman was likely fey, but that seemed to contradict her modest clothing and polite words.

"May I escort you to your relatives Madame?" He asked with a predatory smile. His curiosity was piqued, and he wished to see whom the mysterious lady was related to.

_Not to mention, _He thought to himself, _I can't let a stranger wander around the Labyrinth unchaperoned and as much as I would like to just throw her out, she hasn't given me any reason to do so._

The woman seemed to give him a brief searching look before smiling and taking his offered arm.

"You are Jareth, the Goblin King." She said, as they walked down another hedgerow.

It was not a question, but a statement.

"You seem to have the upper hand Milady," Jareth said smoothly, hiding his irritation, "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

The woman stilled a moment and smiled, "Lady Khaos." She said as they began to walk and she led him around a corner.

_That rings bell, _Jareth thought as he wracked his brains for an answer.

They walked in companionable silence for nearly a quarter of an hour, and the woman that called herself Lady Khaos never seemed to hesitate in which direction to take. In fact, she seemed to know the Labyrinth nearly as well as Jareth himself!

The hedge maze opened onto another clearing, with a pretty grove of apple trees. The trunks of the trees were silvery and hidden among the golden leaves were juicy purple apples.

_Has this always been here?_ Jareth wondered as he looked at the beauty surrounding him.

Sitting underneath the tallest apple tree, was a glowing golden figure.

"Good day my King," The personification of the Labyrinth said in an echoing voice, as she rose, "You have my thanks."

The king cocked his head in interest; the Labyrinth was not normally so cordial.

Lady Khaos released the King's arm and walked to the Labyrinth with a smile on her face that shone like the light of the heavens.

"Whatever for?" He asked, as he watched the two females draw near to each other.

Lady Khaos embraced the Labyrinth warmly, and the King was puzzled until the Labyrinth turned to look at him with dancing golden eyes. Her arm was wrapped around the other woman's waist.

"For escorting my mother here of course." She said with a smile. Lady Khaos was watching on with faint amusement as Jareth blinked in surprise.

"Your mother?" He repeated.

"Everything comes from somewhere my King." The Labyrinth reminded him.

"But I was always told that the Labyrinth has been since the beginning of time..."Jareth was cut off by the sweet silvery laughter of the Lady Khaos.

"How could Time father a child before his creation?" Lady Khaos chuckled, "That would be interesting indeed."

This took Jareth aback. He had met Time of course; in fact he had gotten in trouble several times by reordering time recklessly and had been forced to answer to the personification of time itself.

_Who,_ Jareth silently added, _does not much care to be pushed around._

In fact, the dark haired, and gray-eyed deity had been positively livid to discover a fae abusing his power in such an insolent manner.

"Who are you?" Jareth asked in a dangerously low voice.

The woman tilted her head to one side, " I am Chaos, my son."

_Of course, the Lady Khaos_, Jareth felt like smacking himself in the face, _the mother of the universe and mate of Lord Time._

The king felt the familiar tug of a child being wished away, he scowled.

_Of all the times._ Jareth silently groaned.

The Labyrinth and her mother smiled knowingly. The King found it rather disconcerting.

"Be careful my child, " Lady Khaos cautioned gently, walking towards him and settling her hand on his arm briefly, "This runner is quite unique. If you are not careful, you may lose more to her than just the game."

Jareth was irritated with this whole situation and just scowled darkly, before disappearing in an explosion of glitter.

"He's not the most even tempered is he, my dear?" Khaos asked as she turned back to her daughter.

"No he is not." Labyrinth agreed, "But I have found him to be a just king."

Khaos smiled wistfully, "She is an excellent match, young Sarah Williams, but he will need patience. She is too young to know her own mind I'm afraid."

"He will have to learn what patience is first." Labyrinth said dryly, thinking off the goblins she often saw flying out the castle windows.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Lady Khaos smiled, "So tell me, how you've been doing this century?"


	2. Chapter 2  Tea with the Protogenoi

Lady Khaos sighed.

She and the Labyrinth and watched as the girl, Sarah, made her way into the Labyrinth, and the king's heart.

When she had spoken the words that returned her home, the king had locked himself into his library and seemed to intend to stay there for the next millennia.

Lord Time was irritated with Jareth; he had once again deliberately tampered with time, when Sarah was running the labyrinth, and after swearing, he would only do so under much duress.

Fortunately for Jareth, Khaos had spoken with her husband, and he was willing to let it go.

"I'm not going to interfere." Lady Khaos said firmly to her three daughters as they sipped their nectar.

"Sure you aren't Mother," Nyx said with a wry smile.

"Yes, whatever you say." Hemera added with a grin. Thalassa just nodded, since she was currently chewing a scone.

Khaos looked fondly at her daughters, each of them were matriarchs in their own right and powerful goddesses, but to her, they were just her children and she just their mother.

Nyx was the embodiment of night.

Nyx's dark hair fell in loose dark curls down her back, and her velvety black eyes were twinkling; a startling contrast to her shimmering, pale skin. She was the most sensuous of her daughters, and not merely in form; she had a very alluring and charismatic personality.

Hemera was the embodiment of day.

Hemera's hair was the color of the setting sun, a gorgeous scarlet. Her eyes were predictably blue, but they were strong and clear. It was said that the sky mimicked the color of her eyes, her complexion was rosy, but not dark, just a healthy glow from millennia spent outside.

Thalassa was the embodiment of the Mediterranean Sea.

Her hair was light brown; the color of her sandy beaches, and it fell in waves to her lower back She had eyes of the deepest blue-green, the color of the water on a clear day. She was very tan from her centuries on the water and it only accentuated the brilliance of color in her other features.

Apart from these differences in coloring, the sister-goddesses looked very like each other, which in turn looked very much like their beautiful mother.

Khaos looked wryly at the matching smirks on her daughters' faces.

"I am completely serious," She persisted, "my interference could only do more harm than good."

"Maybe," Thalassa said after swallowing, "But I don't think it can get any worse."

Her sisters nodded in agreement. It had been seven years since Sarah ran the labyrinth and nothing had happened at all. The girl still called on her friends from the labyrinth from time to time and had a successful career as a writer and illustrator of children's books.

Nevertheless, she was not happy. She had slowly alienated herself from her human friends; she had not had a date since college and was always very careful not to use the words 'I wish'

"Well what would you propose then?" Khaos asked, rather irritated.

"You could try going and talking with her?" Hemera suggested.

"But how? I am not just going to walk up to her and say,

'Good afternoon, my name is Lady Khaos. I'm the mother of the entire cosmos and would greatly appreciate it if you would remove one of my great-grandsons from his black depression by marrying him.'"

She snorted daintily, "She would call the nearest psych ward to come and pick me up."

"Maybe you could rent the flat next to hers," Nyx said as she munched on a cookie, "Disguise yourself as something resembling your biological age." This would be in her fifties, "And make friends with her."

"That is not a bad idea," Khaos said slowly, "Not bad at all."

Nyx smiled, "So how is our dear little sister doing?"


	3. Chapter 3 Mrs Hill's Lemon Squares

Sarah threw her sketchpad into a wall with an exasperated groan before burying her head into her hands.

It was the anniversary of her running the Labyrinth and no matter what she tried, her thoughts kept drifting back to a certain arrogant fae king.

_No Sarah,_ She chastised herself, _don't __think__ about him._

But that was hard to do when what you did for a living was draw fantasy pictures that were nearly all based on the otherworldly beauty she had seen at age 15.

Someone rapping at the door interrupted Sarah in her musings.

"Sarah dear," A motherly voice called, "Are you alright."

Sarah pulled herself off the couch and opened the door, "Hey Mrs. Hill." It was her neighbor that lived on the other side of the wall she threw the sketchpad at.

The older woman smiled gently at the girl, "Having a bad day? Why don't you come over to my place and talk about it? I've just made some lemon squares and if you don't help me I'm just going to eat them all myself and gain 5 pounds."

Sarah smiled at the motherly little woman, Soft white blonde hair with silver running through it gracefully twinkly dark eyes and… the best lemon squares ever.

Before she knew it Sarah was bundled up at Mrs. Hill's kitchen table with an afghan wrapped around her, a cup of herbal tea and a plate piled high with lemon bars.

After pouring herself a cup of tea, Mrs. Hill sat down across from Sarah.

"Your lemon squares are the best Ma'am." Sarah said as she bit into one with a moan.

Mrs. Hill chuckled, "As you've told me before. It's the perfect way to coerce my children and grandchildren to visit with me." She took a sip of her tea then pinned Sarah with those fathomless dark eyes, "So what's been troubling you sweetheart?"

Sarah suppressed a smile. Mrs. Hill had adopted her as a surrogate grandchild from the moment they had laid eyes on each other; going so far as to help her move into her apartment and introduce herself to Karen, Dad and Toby, whom she had invited over to dinner several times.

"C'mon," Mrs. Hill gently coaxed, "or I won't give you any more lemon squares."

Sarah chuckled, then sighed, "Well," Sarah began slowly, "Do you remember that book I loaned you? Y'know The Labyrinth?" Mrs. Hill nodded in confirmation, "So what if I told you," She paused and looked up at the older woman from under her eyelashes, "That it was true?"

Mrs. Hill's forehead creased, "The Labyrinth was real?" Her shrewd gaze scrutinized Sarah carefully, "So that was you then. You wished away Toby."

Sarah was taken aback. That wasn't a question, but a statement of fact.

Sarah nodded warily, "I swear I'm not crazy, it really happened."

"I believe you sweetheart." Her brow furrowed again, "But why does that upset you after all this time? I mean, perhaps it was a traumatic experience, but you got your brother back…"

"No," Sarah shouted before she could stop herself, "No. It's not that." She took a deep breath, "The… Goblin King was very lenient actually. I was a bad tempered, selfish brat and I wanted to blame him for taking away my baby brother, when it was really my fault. I taunted him, expecting him to be a villain. But I didn't realize until years later the lessons that I was supposed to learn from each trial."

Mrs. Hill nodded, "It looked that way to me too, when I read the book. But," She suddenly had a rather smug smile, "Tell me about the Goblin King himself."

Sarah laughed, silvery sweet, "I sometimes refer to him in my mind as _His Highness of the Insanely Tight Pants_." She snickered, "He was rather arrogant, and completely gorgeous. And he can sing." She added with a small dreamy smile, "At the time he was completely infuriating, because I thought he was mocking me with his pretty words, when all he wanted was to offer himself to me." Sarah shook her head sadly.

"Such is the folly of youth." Mrs. Hill said with a sympathetic smile, "So you understand what he was offering you now." The older woman paused thoughtfully, "How do you feel about him?"

"I think about him constantly," Sarah admitted after a moment, "I was frustrated earlier because I kept sketching him unintentionally. Everything I drew turned into him. I think it's too late now." Sarah paused again and then added slowly, "But if I had to label it, I'd say I love him." Sarah shrugged sadly, "Like I said though, it's too late for that."

The gaze Mrs. Hill was leveling at Sarah was inscrutable, like the small smile below it.

"Sarah," Mrs. Hill gently asked, "What was the name of the Goblin King? I don't think you've ever told me."

"Jareth." Sarah said immediately, forgetting the dangers of saying his name aloud, "His name is Jareth."

Suddenly the lights in Mrs. Hill's cozy Kitchen flickered once and then went out, "You called, Sarah mine?" Called a masculine voice behind her.

"Oh no." Sarah groaned.


	4. Chapter 4 Surreal

Jareth was wearing a royal purple doublet with slashed sleeves and (for once) a pair of black slacks.

As he scanned them room he was standing in, his eyes widened, then narrowed as he took in the form of the older woman, who calmly met his gaze.

"Lemon square dear?" She asked mildly, ignoring his outrageous appearance and burst of glitter.

Jareth eyed her incredulously before shrugging and sitting down next to Sarah.

When Sarah finally cracked her eyes open, she saw the Goblin King sipping tea out of a dainty porcelain cup and devouring lemon square.

"This is so not how I pictured my day going." Sarah groaned as she covered her face with her hands in frustration.

Jareth shrugged his elegant shoulders; "You called me, not vise-versa." He took another bite of lemon square.

"Besides," Jareth sighed once he had swallowed, "I was planning to spend the day with a nice wallow self pity; probably involving kicking a few goblins and lot's of alcohol." He smiled, as if to pass it off as a joke, but the pain in his eyes said otherwise.

Sarah couldn't help the tiny smile that made it's way onto her face as she looked at him; drinking in the almost impossible picture of him sitting down to tea with her surrogate grandmother.

_So much better in person than on paper…_

"Would you like to lay down Sarah?" Mrs. Hill asked, as she peered at her in concern, "You don't look so good."

Sarah snapped back to reality and blushed deeply, "I'll be fine Ma'am, this is just a little surreal."

_Please tell me he didn't notice me staring, please tell me…_

Sarah peeked up at him through her bangs, to meet his mismatched eyes, gleaming with mirth.

_Oh, he noticed all right._

As her face reddened even more, a smirk cautiously stole across his face, and he grinned, revealing a set of brilliantly white, fanged teeth.

All at once, he stood up gracefully, startling Sarah, and turned towards Mrs. Hill

"Your cooking is fit for royalty Madame," He said his he leaned over and kissed her cheek, "But I think Sarah and I have lot's of catching up to do." He glanced at Sarah and almost imperceptibly gestured towards the door.

Mechanically, Sarah also stood, reaching over and giving Mrs. Hill a hug.

"Tell him what you told me, darling," Mrs. Hill whispered against her dark hair, "You need to make the first move."

"Thank you." Sarah whispered fervently, before releasing the kindly little woman and turning towards the man who had captured her heart and soul.

She smiled softly and took his proffered hand without hesitation.


End file.
